December 31, 2010

Had the opportunity yesterday to visit the North Fork of the American River, on some private property. It's an amazing location, first discovered by gold miners. But unlike some other mining sites, this one is pristine and there's no evidence of large scale mining.

Challenging to photograph though, with a huge amount of white water and brilliant sunshine. Even without a camera it was a beautiful spot to simply enjoy being alive and feel nature seeping into my body.

In the rocky area aside the river was a series of small pools, mostly a foot wide or less, carved by centuries of waterpower. Much like I'm fascinated by the continual pounding of surf on land, this slow carving of rock is also a wonder. The water in this pool is definitely rainwater. But the rock has surely been sculpted by huge winter flows over the eons.

I suppose the last time the water was this high these small stones were being pushed around the surface, and found a home here in this unusually shaped pool, most of them being round. It was a tiny bowl of jewels, to me, amidst a larger landscape of extreme beauty, among the best the Sierra have to offer.

December 30, 2010

Being in this structure during a rainstorm was pretty interesting. The wind made the building creak and moan like an old truck on a rough road. With the big front element of this lens, I had to keep wiping it and quickly getting a shot off.

This was from my Gladding McBeane shoot back in October. Haven't done a B&W shot for a while. I was inspired to put up a B&W image by some very fine work in saw in Pt Reyes last week. Check out www.martyknapp.com for some gorgeous landscape work, all in B&W.

December 28, 2010

Over in Pt Reyes (CA), they have a lot of foggy mornings. This however was not one of them, in fact I shot the original in late afternoon light. When I looked at the image on the screen, I liked the colors and "grunge" of the floats, but the image itself was lacking drama.

So into Topaz Adjust 4.0 we go. I started with the "Dark-Night" preset, which gave me the mood I was looking for, but nowhere near enough detail. So then working with the various detail sliders I brought out as much detail as I was looking for. Just like what I think I would see on a foggy morning at daybreak.

How many years have these fishing floats served the local fisherman.... Little soldiers ready to head into battle in the water. Good stuff.

So click on the continue link to see the original, I think you'll be impressed with the effect achieved with Topaz Adjust. And, you can leave a comment too if you wish!

December 26, 2010

Found myself on the Pacific Ocean for Christmas. Been finding myself a lot there lately, haven't I?

This place is South Beach, in the Pt. Reyes National Seashore. My wife and I are on training wheels as empty nesters, and with both our kids in SoCal, we took a shot at the next phase of our lives. Staying in this area for a couple of nights was really great.

My wife loves to beachcomb, and I don't typically accompany her. I'm working on my photographs. But this trip was not meant to be a photo expedition, and it was darn cold out at this beach. So I thought I'd walk with her and enjoy the moment. Along with the 5D Mk II of course.

The waves were large, crashing and beautiful. I took some shots of them. Nothing too inspiring. I noticed a girl shooting some waves too. She'll likely be the subject of a Fun Friday one of these days.

Then I got the idea of trying some of my wave panning techniques. This would be the first time I would try it from the beach (usually I'm on a pier). I tried several concepts, nothing quite grabbing me while viewing them on the LCD.

I realized that the girl now had a friend join her, and they were running around, being playful on the beach. I decided to try some other camera movements, besides horizontal panning. I started seeing something I liked.

Then I heard the words of Tony Sweet who often uses "in camera effects." In a facebook post/image recently he said "as in all things photographic, you want to begin with a nice composition." (I paraphrased.)

Surveying my scene I decided that the moment I was looking for was when the waves reached up the shore the furthest distance. I moved my self closer, then, farther, from the waves to be able to capture the sand as well, as I liked the rich colors I was getting.

Once I had my composition and my camera movement down, I played with different shutter speeds, all working when the girls were playing and the waves were doing their thing. Kind of a lot going on, but I was really enjoying it. Many of my photo buddies know I struggle to take the time necessary at a particular location to work through all the possibilities.

Once I saw this one on the LCD, I was pretty sure it was going to be promising. Let's find out, what do you think of it?

Also, since I have been working on these wave shots quite a bit, I have added a new category to my "category cloud" which can take you to an index listings of my wave shots.

December 24, 2010

These trees are close to my house. In fact I just noticed them, with these fall color leaves refusing to give up, a couple of days ago while talking with a friend in the driveway.

I had been hoping for a foggy morning to shoot them. Yesterday wasn't too foggy, but early in the morning I had the mood I was seeking. Dreary. Cold. Just a few days after the shortest day of the year.

Yet what do we have here? You know California has just been slammed with wild and wet storms. Very windy. Fall color should have been long ago. No giving up.

That's my belief about Nature. I believe in Mother Nature. So much more powerful than anything man can do, willingly or unwittingly. These trees are like a little personal sign to me that she is alive and well.

And I like that sentiment, on Christmas Eve. The machinations of men and women come and go, but Nature endures.

December 23, 2010

There are some days here on the Dream Tomrrow blog when I choose an image, but don't have a clue how everyone will react. I have always liked this one, a shot from my trip to Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania.

A study in forms. Depth of field. Simple colors. Interesting spaces and lighting. When I was on location, I did see these patterns - this shot was very deliberate. The image above just has a bit of crop across the bottom.